Need Decorating Ideas

Right now, Princess and Sonshine share a bedroom, and Bagel has the small bedroom to himself. In our new house, there is one large and one small bedroom available for kids, with a second small bedroom available after we make a few changes. Princess is getting old enough now that she ought not be sharing a room with her brother any more, so Princess will have the existing small bedroom until we finish the new small bedroom, which she will be able to decorate to her taste (the existing small bedroom is already decorated in a baby theme). This means Sonshine and Bagel will have to share the larger bedroom, and the new baby will get the existing small bedroom when Princess moves out.

Sharing a bedroom is good for Sonshine. He really enjoys having a "roomie" and doesn't like it when Princess goes off for sleepovers. However, Bagel is the kind of kid that enjoys having his own little private space that is his and his alone. Sonshine is not going to like this, and he's probably not going to respect it either without some spankings Manual Attitude Adjustments. So I'm trying to find a way to physically cordon off Bagel's personal space, to create a boundary that we can tell him "do not cross." There are lots of ways to do this that are Bagel-proof, but I'm having trouble thinking of one that is Sonshine-proof. If there is a way that a five-year-old ball of energy could destroy a barrier, rest assured Sonshine will try it within two weeks of putting the barrier in place.

A folding screen comes with a neon sign that says "Climb Me, Sonshine!" If the panels don't go all the way to the ground, he will also try to crawl under them, even if he doesn't fit. I thought of a ceiling-mounted curtain, but we've already had problems with Sonshine swinging like Tarzan from his window-mounted curtains. A mosquito-net-style curtain, mounted from a ceiling hook, would not sit far enough away from Bagel's crib to keep Bagel from pulling it down. Cubicle walls might work, but they would be ugly, expensive, and hard to find, and since they don't go up to the ceiling, Sonshine would amuse himself by throwing objects over the partition into Bagel's crib. ("But Mooooommm, I didn't go over there! Just like you said!")

If you have any ideas for a Sonshine-proof partition, please let me know in the comments.